The Importance of a Healthy Spine

A healthy spine can make a difference in your mobility, comfort, and overall health as you age. How can you best take care of your spine in order for it to support and provide comfort as you get older? Start by understanding the underlying behaviors that can lead to poor spinal alignment and what you can do to better take care of your spine.

Lifestyle Habits

When it comes to the causes of poor spinal health, a variety of factors could be at play. Among those factors could be chronic fatigue, psychological stress, insufficient exercise, poor lifestyle or nutrition habits. Poor spinal health can also result from bad posture, a sports injury, or poor sleeping habits. In addition, poor posture, improper movement, and extreme exercise without proper recovery can lead to permanently poor spinal mobility, degenerative diseases, and a decreased quality of life.

Benefits of a Healthy Spine

In order to support your spinal health, aim to understand what a healthy spine can do for you. It can provide support, movement, protection, coordination and control.The spine serves to provide support for your head. The spine can help control quick movement essential for protection and survival. The spine also provides support for the shoulder and frame of the body. A strong spinal cord provides ample movement for your body; with a strong spine, you will have a greater range of mobility. A spinal injury or repeated bad posture could make it more difficult for you to walk, run, sit up straight, bend over, and rotate your neck.

In order to preserve your overall health, learn how to exercise your spine with regular workouts and stretches. Work the muscles surrounding your spine in order to protect your body. No matter your mode of exercise, it is especially important to avoid excessive strain. Think about yoga moves that include downward dog, reverse bridge, cat, and cow poses. Sleeping in a back supportive position will also eliminate pain and stiffness in your torso.

Problems of an Unhealthy Spine

A healthy spine is essential in sustaining overall body health. Any spinal irritation or ill-alignment can cause issues within the central nervous system and outer spinal nerves. Subsequent effects of an unhealthy spine could also potentially lead to weakened muscle systems, muscle aches, headaches, migraines, joint problems, poor concentration, sleep disorders, chest pain and more.